Interesting cover for the latest Time Magazine. How old is this kid, twenty?
I’m not sure what’s more disturbing, the fact that he’s way too old to be breastfeeding or the fact that he’s wearing camo pants.
NOT IN MY HOUSE! (I mean the camo pants. The breastfeeding looks kinda fun.)
You gotta get on board with camo pants on kids. If for no reason other than If you don’t he’ll be wearing them when he’s older. They’ve done studies, this is true.
in mammalian terms, he’s far from “too old” to be breastfeeding. He’s not yet 4 according to the interview on the Today Show (which I caught off their website when a friend mentioned it). Mammals typically continue feeding from their mothers’ breasts until they have at least some of their adult teeth. In humans, this would be around 6 or 7 at the earliest.
I came across your blog from your comments about being an equal parent on the one that replaced the image with a dad in a suit wearing a baby in a carrier. I applaud your equality (and take it at face value). My husband has been very much an equal co-parent to our three (soon to be 4) children, including wearing all of them in back carriers while doing the dishes or cooking. And I breastfed all of them well into toddlerhood. I didn’t breastfeed them as long as this mom did, but that was not by choice – I lost my milk in subsequent pregnancies. The kids are 3 years apart each, except for the one I’m carrying now who is due when our 3rd is 2.5yrs old. Continuing breastfeedng makes parenting toddlers MUCH easier in our experience – it’s generally a surefire way to nip a temper tantrum in the bud, for one thing, and the immune system boosting results in fewer whining-inducing illnesses. I didn’t think I’d be one to breastfeed past a year when I was pregnant with my first, but then his birthday came and went, and I didn’t see any benefit to forcing him to wean because of a calendar date. He’s now nearly 8 and a very independent and compassionate kid who does not get bullied or bully others (in fact, the few scuffles he’s gotten in at school have been him getting between a bully who was targeting another kid).
I honestly had no idea how old the kid was when I posted this, but he looks older than most breastfeeding children, and the point of the image is that some people might think he’s too old for the practice.
I have nothing against breast-feeding – my wife breastfed our son for more than a year and only stopped because some new medication conflicted. But I also think non-breast-feeding gets demonized far too casually. I also don’t know what the fact that your son’s compassion and independence have to do with how he received sustenance at the start of his life. Are the children you didn’t breastfeed as long less independent and compassionate?
I also don’t know how instructive it is to compare humans to other mammals in this case – some of them toss feces at each other, should we do that too?
I’m no expert on this topic, but I don’t think people on either side deserve to be attacked or vilified for their choices. That said, the site of an older boy suckling his mother’s breast is certainly unusual and provocative and can be expected to incite some objections. We all have our taboos, the majority here seems to err on the side that at a certain point, kids are too old to breastfeed.
Thanks for stopping by!